The Downlow | Wednesday, Sept. 28

Today we’re catching up on some of the news from around the theme park world over the past week. We’ve got construction updates, reviews, a previous of some 2017 offerings, and even a few strange (but fun!) stories that were making waves on social media over the past few days!

The Downlow for Wednesday, September 28, is here!

Orlando Theme Park News has a look at what’s coming in 2017 for SeaWorld Orlando, including the first virtual reality (VR) roller coaster experience in Florida!

Disney Park Blogs wants you to know that starting October 7, Disney resort visitors in Orlando and California will be able to catch a sneak peak of the new Marvel movie, Doctor Strange.

Blogging legend Ricky Brigante at Inside the Magic has a house-by-house review (with some videos that we haven’t watched because SPOILERS!) of Halloween Horror Nights 26 at Universal Studios Florida!

WDW News Today reviews the menu overhaul at the relatively new Nomad Lounge at Disney’s Animal Kingdom! This is a great little lounge that opened beside the new restaurant, Tiffins, a few months ago. The Downlow crew was fortunate enough to visit both on opening weekend and they are great additions to Animal Kingdom!

Check out the latest construction pics from Disney’s Hollywood Studios where the only thing that remains on the old backlot is two facades! This is the space that will eventually be occupied by the news Star Wars and Toy Story lands. There’s something bittersweet about no longer being able to see the Streets of NY or the Honey! I Shrunk the Kids play area.

A wild story popped up on Gizmodo the other day reporting that Disney may try to purchase Twitter! The article suggests that Disney would potentially expand Twitter’s streaming video strategy. Interesting to note that revenue from the various Disney parks only makes up 30 percent of the company’s profits, according to the article. We’ll continue to monitor this one.

Finally, a doctor from Michigan has released a new study that says if you suffer from kidney stones, you should hop on a rollercoaster! And not just any rollercoaster, but specifically Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (BTMR) at Magic Kingdom. After hearing repeated stories from patients who had passed kidney stones after trips to Orlando, Dr. David Warmonger and his team had a hunch. So they created a 3D kidney filled with artificial kidney stones, put it in a backpack, and rode BTMR several times (after giving the park a heads up/asking permission!) Check out the story at Yahoo – it’s fascinating!